until 1954. The terminal, located at William P. Hobby Airport, houses the 1940 Air Terminal Museum which currently exhibits several collections focusing on Houston's aviation history. Stadia The 70,000-seat Rice Stadium, designed in 1950 by Hermon Lloyd & W.B. Morgan and Milton McGinty, is of reinforced concrete with diameter columns supporting the upper decks. Architecturally, the stadium is an example of modernism, with simple lines and an unadorned, functional design. The entire lower seating bowl is located below the surrounding ground level. Intended solely for football games, the stadium has excellent sightlines from almost every seat. The Astrodome, the world's first domed stadium, was conceived by Roy Hofheinz and designed by architects Hermon Lloyd & W.B. Morgan, and Wilson, Morris, Crain and Anderson. Structural engineering and structural design was performed by Walter P Moore Engineers and Consultants of Houston. It stands 18 stories tall, covering 9½ acres. The stadium is in diameter and the ceiling is above the playing surface, which itself sits below street level. Despite innovations necessitated by the novelty of the design (including the modest flattening of the supposed "hemispherical roof" to deal with environmentally induced structural deformation and the use of a new paving process called "lime stabilization" to deal with soil consistency issues and facilitate paving) the Astrodome was completed in November 1964, six months ahead of schedule. Located near the Astrodome, NRG Stadium is a wonder of modern sports facility design and engineering. The 69,500-seat stadium has a natural grass playing field and a retractable roof—a first for the NFL. There are also 165 private suites, 8,200 club seats, and more than 400 concession and novelty stands. The playing field is palletized and removable, allowing for the addition of a significant layer of dirt to accommodate the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, or use the concrete floor for concerts, trade shows, and conventions. See also Architectural style List of tallest buildings in Texas Skyscraper Urban planning References Further reading Fox, Stephen (1990): Houston Architectural Guide: American Institute of Architects Houston Mod, Anna (2011): Building Modern Houston Parsons, J and Bush, D. (2008) Houston deco: modernistic architecture of the Texas coast Scardin, B et al. (2003): Ephemeral city: Cite looks at Houston External links Houston Architecture Early Architecture of Houston Modernistic Architecture of the Texas Coast Houston architecture archive 174 Years of Historic Houston (requires registration) Buildings and structures in Houston Houston History of